Long before St. Louis went into hyperdrive in its campaign to keep the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency from leaving town, residents around the NGA鈥檚 north side construction site had legitimate complaints about being treated as second-class citizens. The NGA project鈥檚 arrival on their doorstep has done nothing to alleviate those concerns.
A serious health issue has developed with NGA site preparation at Jefferson and Cass avenues. During the past school year, children and staffers at nearby Gateway Michael Elementary School began complaining of breathing problems. Thick layers of dust were settling on cars and clothes of staffers at Gateway.
The school鈥檚 entrance is barely 150 feet from the former site of the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex 鈥 now a dumpsite for concrete and other debris cleared from the NGA鈥檚 construction site. obtained public records and conducted extensive interviews documenting the extent of the dust problem.
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The site features multiple mountains of rubble across several acres and towering over the two-story school complex. This eyesore appears to violate multiple local, state and federal laws. If such an impromptu dump was foisted onto a wealthier neighborhood, say St. Louis Hills, its existence would be measured in nanoseconds.
So far, the only evidence of a response from local authorities has been to suspend dumping and install an air-quality monitor at the southwest corner of the site.
KWMU reporter Ryan Delaney reports that dozens of students and staffers suffered breathing problems as the dumping persisted this year. The handled 359 complaints from students. At least 14 staff members missed work for an average of two to three days, citing respiratory problems.
Federal and state law requires construction and demolition sites to minimize the spread of dust they generate 鈥 something that clearly didn鈥檛 occur in this case. No one seems to want to take responsibility.
Otis Williams, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp., which is overseeing the NGA site-preparation work, dismissed the health problems as 鈥渘ot out of the norm,鈥 Delaney reported.
On projects like this, a formal permitting procedure is required, including public hearings preceding a zoning reclassification. It鈥檚 not clear if that was done in this case. No such permit appears on the city鈥檚 property registry.
What is clear is that the rights of parents, teachers and children got short shrift in favor of the NGA project. That鈥檚 been the case in this area far too often; for decades the city tolerated developer Paul McKee鈥檚 willful neglect of his derelict properties. His lofty plans for a neighborhood upgrade made authorities reluctant to crack down on McKee鈥檚 blatant and persistent code violations.
We鈥檙e all for the dramatic progress that, hopefully, will accompany the NGA project. But that progress must not come at the expense of local residents鈥 rights.